The Gilmer High Lady Cats were on the court for eight more volleyball matches last week.
GHS made its way to West Hall Tuesday and met the host Spartans and Dawson County Tigers for area matches. West Hall took down the Cats 2-1 and Dawson came out on top, 2-0.
Gilmer was at home Thursday and celebrated its senior players before the match versus the Fannin County Lady Rebels. A best-of-five match needed all five sets and Fannin survived GHS, 3-2.
The Cats were able to gain an early edge Tuesday against West Hall with an opening win of 25-18. But the Spartans came back for wins of 25-19 and 15-11 to take the match.
Elly Callihan provided 10 points with kills. Kadie Weaver contributed four, Hali Hice had three and Anneliese Vaughn finished with two. Adrian Thompson provided 13 assists and Vaughn was there for five. Taylor McCormick led GHS with two blocks and Weaver scored two aces.
Vaughn was in position for 11 digs and was followed by Callihan (seven), Thompson and Weaver (six each), McCormick (five), Hice (four), Reagan Boling (three) and Gracie Cain (two).
Dawson defeated the Cats 25-21 and 25-17. Callihan led GHS with three aces, four kills and 13 digs. Thompson had three aces, three kills and six assists. Weaver and McCormick each tallied three kills, and Vaughn posted two aces, five assists and three digs.
Gilmer and Fannin used a best-of-five format because it was the only match of the day. Teams typically face two opponents each match day, which is why a best-of-three set scoring is normally used.
Fannin won the first two sets (25-14 and 25-15) easily as the Cats gave up points by shanking hits and letting balls drop for Rebel points. The Cats responded for wins of 25-12 and 25-17 to keep the match alive. However, the fifth set was all Fannin as the Rebels ran away with a 25-7 match-deciding win.
“I don’t know what got into our girls for the first, second and fifth sets, but I swear it looked like they had never played before,” head coach Donna Parks said. “I was hoping it was nerves for senior night when we first started, but I don’t know. They did pull it together for the third and fourth sets and played really good volleyball.”
Callihan and McCormick both tallied five aces and Thompson and Weaver had two apiece. Callihan also led GHS with eight kills and 19 digs. Weaver and Vaughn each had five kills. Thompson set up 15 points and Vaughn added six more assists. Remaining digs were collected by Boling (12), Weaver (11) Vaughn (10), Thompson (six), Hice and McCormick (four), Dacey Attebery (three) and Cain (two).
The junior varsity Cats downed West Hall 25-14, (28-26 loss) and 15-8. Dawson defeated GHS 25-21 and 27-25.
Raider Rally
Gilmer was back on the court Saturday morning at Southeast Whitfield High School for the Raider Rally Tournament.
Illness, injury and a college visit knocked two starters and a reserve out of Gilmer’s lineup, and only seven Lady Cats made the trip.
GHS defeated the host Raiders (25-22, 27-25) but lost to Christian Heritage (25-15, 25-15), Sonoraville (25-10, 25-16), LaFayette (25-4, 25-16) and Mount Bethel (25-13, 25-15).
“Once we got there, the entire tournament had to be revamped as a team didn’t show up so it turned out to be more of a play date than a tournament,” Parks explained. “But everyone did get to play everyone and ended up getting five matches.
“The first couple of matches could have gone better, but after lunch, the girls got a second wind and began to play a little better. By that fifth match of the day, and seven hours of volleyball, everyone was getting tired.”
Gilmer stats for the day included, aces: Hice (six), Callihan (five), Attebery (four), Weaver and Thompson (three each). Kills: Callihan (22), McCormick (11), Weaver (10), Thompson (six) and Hice (two). Blocks: McCormick (five), Callihan (four), Hice and Weaver (two apiece) and Thompson (one).
Also, assists: Thompson (30), and McCormick (four).
Digs: Callihan (27), Thompson (19), Weaver (17), Attebery (15), Cain (12), McCormick (10) and Hice (four).
GHS has a 8-26 overall record.